The Lad Who Went to the North Wind

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s adventurous but light, with a satisfying ‘justice’ ending. The repeated pattern (gift → trick → try again) is easy to follow and ends with the boy safe and respected.

Story Synopsis

A poor family keeps losing their food because the North Wind blows it away. The youngest son decides it isn’t fair, and he sets out to speak directly to the Wind. It’s a bold idea—walking into the world to argue with a force of nature—but the boy is stubborn and sincere. When he finally meets the North Wind, the Wind is not cruel so much as careless. The boy explains his family’s hunger, and the Wind agrees to make amends by giving him a magical gift to take home. On the way back, the boy stops at an inn. The innkeeper sees the gift and, tempted by greed, swaps it for a worthless copy. The boy arrives home disappointed. So he goes back to the North Wind again. This pattern repeats: each time the Wind offers a stronger gift, and each time someone tries to trick the boy. But the boy keeps returning, refusing to accept unfairness. At last, the North Wind gives him a final gift that can defend itself—helping him expose the cheating and reclaim what belongs to him. He returns home with both food and dignity. The Lad Who Went to the North Wind is a folk tale about persistence: asking for justice, not giving up, and learning to protect yourself from greed.

Story Excerpt

Once there was an old widow who lived with her one son. They did not have much, and the mother was often tired and weak, so the boy did many of the hard chores. One day she said, “We must bake. Go up to the safe and fetch a little meal.” The safe was a small storehouse where they kept their food. The lad climbed up, filled a sack with meal, and came out again. But as he stood on the steps and started down—whoosh!—the North Wind came puffing and blowing. It snatched the meal right out of his hands and whisked it away through the air. The lad blinked and stared after it. Then he marched right back up. He fetched more meal. He stepped out again. And again—whoosh!—the North Wind swept in and carried the meal off as if it were a feather. The lad pressed his lips tight. “Well,” he muttered, “I’ll try once more.” A third time he filled his sack, and a third time the North Wind came and puffed it away. That was too much. The lad’s cheeks grew hot with anger—not a wild, shouting anger, but the kind that makes you stand very straight. “It isn’t fair,” he said. “We have so little. If he keeps taking our meal, we’ll have nothing at all.” So he decided he would look up the North Wind and ask for what was right.

In One Glance